


mixed emotions

by narcissacronin



Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:27:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25458529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narcissacronin/pseuds/narcissacronin
Summary: nova and hugh talk about the painting depicting the day of triumph hanging on one of the walls outside the council’s offices
Relationships: Nova Artino | Nightmare & Hugh Everhart | Captain Chromium
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	mixed emotions

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is basically an expansion of this [rough sketch](https://narcissacronin.tumblr.com/post/623217585788452864/a-rough-and-unfinished-sketch-of-an-idea-i-had), which was based on a concept that i haven’t been quite able to shake from my mind. originally, i had wanted it to be more of nova and hugh reflecting on ace, though that’s not really what it became :/

Nova stepped out of the elevator, Hugh only a few steps in front of her. She waved at Prism as they passed the reception desk and flashed a polite smile. But before they made it to Hugh’s office, she found her feet stalled in front of the large painting that hung all alone on the wall. It depicted the Day of Triumph, though it couldn’t have been more inaccurate.

“Nova?” Hugh said, glancing at her over his shoulder.

She gave a slight nod of her head, unable to pull her gaze away from the painting. She slowly scanned her eyes over it, taking in every little detail.

In the painting, Captain Chromium stood atop a pile of rubble, Ace’s helmet speared on the tip of his chromium pike. Ace lay dead and broken, his body draped over one of the cathedral’s broken railings. The stairs of the cathedral were visible in the background. The ground was shown littered with debris and bodies, destruction prominent everywhere.

It was a rather gruesome sight and, even though she  _ knew _ that that wasn’t what happened that day, there was just something about the painting that drew her in.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nova saw Captain Chromium approach. She barely refrained from flinching when he set a hand on her shoulder and resisted the urge to pull away.

Though little over two weeks had passed since the Supernova, this was Nova’s first time being back at Headquarters. She’d decided to take a temporary break from doing patrols and hadn’t found the strength to go up to the artifacts department either. Just being in Renegades HQ felt strange enough on its own, she couldn’t imagine how odd artifacts would feel without Callum’s presence. Besides, the only reason she was here today was to meet with the Council.

After a lengthy discussion with Hugh and Simon a few nights back, they talked with the rest of the Council about having Nova help with rebuilding their system and code. It didn’t take long for Tsunami and Thunderbird to agree, one of them saying something about how it could be helpful to have a younger mind in their midst. So now, she was to come to HQ one to two times a week and meet with the Council to discuss changes that needed to be implemented. Whether they would actually listen to her or not remained to be seen, but she had some hope.

The idea both excited and unnerved Nova. While she no longer harbored feelings of hatred towards the Council, she still felt the urge to tiptoe around them, still not used to no longer being the enemy.

“Is something on your mind?” Hugh asked, pulling Nova from her thoughts. She briefly met his gaze and was surprised to find the slightest hint of concern etched into his expression.

“It’s just...” she started, voice faltering, “this isn’t right.” She gestured with one hand at the painting. “That...that isn’t what happened, as I’m sure you know.”

Hugh nodded, though he didn’t speak for a long moment.

“Right. You’re right,” he finally said. “Come to think of it, I can’t even remember the original thought process behind it.”

“Then why not replace it?” she asked, blinking back the tears she could feel starting to well in her eyes before they had the chance to fall. “With, oh, I don’t know, something macabre? Surely, there’s something less gruesome—and a little more truthful—that you could hang here instead.”

She turned her head towards Hugh again, watching his expression closely.

He appeared to be in deep thought, expression unreadable. Then he turned to her and said, “I’ll bring up to the rest of the Council later, alright?” He dropped his hand from her shoulder and gestured towards the office. “But for right now, we should probably get going before we’re late for the meeting, but we can discuss this more later if you want, too.”

She nodded and though she wasn’t wholly satisfied with his answer, she accepted it anyway. Giving the painting one last glance, she followed him into his office.

The meeting lasted between an hour or two, and for the most part, Nova was able to focus on what the Council was saying, thoughts regarding the painting pushed to the back of her mind.

But on the way back to the Everhart-Westwood mansion, she was unable to shake it from her mind, thoughts especially lingering on its depiction of Ace. Something about the painting kept nagging at her, and though it had bothered her from the first time she saw it, that feeling was even worse now. Part of her wanted to talk with Hugh about it, she wasn’t quite sure she was up to talking about Ace. Her emotions toward him were relatively mixed, a small part of her in almost disbelief, and she wasn’t really ready to voice any of her feelings just yet.

By the time her next meeting with the Council rolled around, over a week had passed and she’d mostly managed to block the painting from her thoughts. When she stepped out onto the floor of the Council’s offices, she was surprised to find that the painting had been taken down. In its place hung a large photograph of the Council from their early days—back when both Lady Indomitable and Blacklight were still alive.

Nova caught Hugh’s gaze and he gave her a knowing smile.

And, a little to her surprise, she smiled back.


End file.
